Do live plants or driftwood affect the cycling process?

[fishorama]

I like Eco too & it supposedly has some beneficial bacteria so you may be better off with cycling than we thought. But keep testing!

You should probably only use 2 bulbs, all 4 will be too much light & you'll have algae problems. 6-8 hours of light is good, a cheap timer can help.

 

[FreshyFresh]

An acrylic tank! Fancy. That light fixture sounds interesting. Do you know the length of the bulbs? Just trying to figure out if it's T5 normal output or high output. The old watts/gallon rule kinda-sorta applies when you're talking fluorescents. Assuming these are 34" tubes at 39 watts each, that's ~156 watts, or basically 4watts/gallon. Fairly high light with all 4 lamps on. Problem with fluorescents on planted tanks is the lamps loose their strength drastically over time and need to be replaced every 6-12 months. They'll look fine to the eye, but the radiation they put out, that the plants require, fades drastically.

 

[Teddy's Mom]

That would be outstanding if the cycling is happening fast! Maybe SafeStart and/or the Eco Complete really work. This morning I got 1.0 ammonia, 0.5 nitrites, and for the first time, nitrates--5.0. Cycling is still baffling to me but seeing nitrates is a good sign, right? The other numbers seem awfully high, so I did a 50% water change. How often do you think testing is needed? Should test again tonight to make sure the ammonia & nitrites are going down?

I agree that 2 bulbs is plenty. That lights up the whole room! And I definitely don't want to create algae problems. Hmm, I think I have a timer somewhere...

 

[Teddy's Mom]

An acrylic tank! Fancy. That light fixture sounds interesting. Do you know the length of the bulbs? Just trying to figure out if it's T5 normal output or high output. The old watts/gallon rule kinda-sorta applies when you're talking fluorescents. Assuming these are 34" tubes at 39 watts each, that's ~156 watts, or basically 4watts/gallon. Fairly high light with all 4 lamps on. Problem with fluorescents on planted tanks is the lamps loose their strength drastically over time and need to be replaced every 6-12 months. They'll look fine to the eye, but the radiation they put out, that the plants require, fades drastically.

I figured acrylic was probably not as good as glass but the guy selling it did claim it was fancier. Let's see, the bulbs look to be about 32"-ish. That's not including the base. As you can tell, I have no clue about lights. What is the watts/gallon rule, actually? And how do you tell when it's time to replace fluorescent bulbs? I don't know how old these are since they're second-hand.

I can't believe how complicated this stuff is. My old roommate had a tank and she made it look easy; however, she was literally a rocket scientist so that may be why. LOL

 

[fishorama]

If you use a dechlorinator like Prime it "locks up" ammonia & nitrite for 24 hours or so. That can help your fish too. & if you get too busy to change water you can dose the tank water volume (kinda cheating but...better than nothing) Your tests will still show both but should be safer.

You're doing great, keep it up!

 

[Teddy's Mom]

Thanks, fishorama! I am using Prime so that's another handy piece of luck. Nice to know it's an option to cheat in a pinch! ;-)

 

[FreshyFresh]

With fluorescent, ~2watts/gallon is generally considered low light. 4 is approaching high light IMO.

For plant bulbs like this, you can't really tell by eye that they're old/worn out. They'll just loose their effectiveness and eventually start producing algae in the tank. Let them go long enough and the tubes will darken at the ends, flicker and go out completely like tubes in a household fixture.

 

[Teddy's Mom]

OK, thanks for filling me in; I guess to start with I should watch for plants no longer thriving or algae developing and that will be a red flag to consider new bulbs.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Mail order is usually your friend when it comes to replacement lamps. Just keep your eyes peeled for replacements in the 6500K range for color/temp.

 

[Teddy's Mom]

Thanks!